Abstract

This paper attempts to explain convergence and divergence of Arabic and English idioms in view of the Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) as set forth by Lakoff and Johnson (2003), one of the landmarks in cognitive linguistics which holds that our conceptual system is based on a group of mental metaphorical images that determine our way of thinking and influence our experience of the world. The paper specifically focuses on idioms related to patience in both languages. It has been found out that patience idioms in both languages emanate from very similar conceptual metaphors: PATIENCE IS HARDNESS, PATIENCE IS A FLUID IN A CONTAINER, and PATIENCE IS SPACIOUNESS; multiple differences, however, have been found to originate basically from cultural/linguistic variance. This study also explores how analyzing Arabic and English ‘patience’ idioms within CMT framework can have significant implications for L2 language learning.

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